How to Become a Full-Time Blogger

Find Your 1000 True Fans and Become a Six-Figure Blogger

The strategy of finding your first 1,000 true fans came from a 2008 blog post written by Kevin Kelly. The overarching idea is that if you can find 1,000 true fans who will spend just $100 per year with you, then you would have a six-figure business.

The formula works like this:

1,000 true fans X $100 each = $100,000 yearly income for you.

But if the formula is really that simple, then it begs the question:

Why are more people not making a living online?

That’s a question I desperately wanted to answer. Earlier this year, I spent over 1000+ minutes talking 1-on-1 with aspiring bloggers, writers and coaches.

Specifically, I asked them:

What’s slowing you down?

What’s getting in your way and stopping you?

Everyone does something to sabotage their success, what do you do?

What I discovered surprised me…

It wasn’t a lack of passion, desire, hard work or even lack of time that was slowing them down.

The biggest challenge they faced was falling prey to what I now call the “Influence Busters.”

The 4 Influence Busters

Specifically, there are four influence busters keeping you from obtaining your 1,000 true fans.

Influence Buster #1: Competition

Let’s first talk about competition. Did you know that 17 posts are published every second on WordPress sites around the world? Crazy, right?

If you have any hopes of blogging full-time, you must discover a way to rise above the noise.

Now, not all competition is bad. In fact, discovering that someone else makes a full-time living online in your niche is a good thing, not a bad thing. They have gone before you and proven the concept can work. Still, for every successful blog in your niche, there are potentially thousands of struggling ones.

Influence Buster #2: Overwhelm

Another outward influence buster is overwhelm, specifically with technology. We all have a love/hate relationship with technology.

Our voices are often silenced by the technology black hole.

It frustrates me to see people who have a story to tell or a passion to share, but let technology keep them from getting their voice out there.

Recently, Greg shared this comment in one of our private Facebook Groups:

“Technology has been eating away at my passion like a cancer.”

Can you relate to how Greg was feeling?

Influence Buster #3: Doubt

The fear of not being good enough is what stops most bloggers from ever launching. Those who struggle the most often think:

Do I have anything of value to add?

Can I measure up to others in my space who seem to be rocking it?

Will I face lots of negative feedback to what I publish?

Will I be exposed for not being an expert?

Have you ever had any of these thoughts? They can be paralyzing for sure.

Remember the 100 blogger conversations I had?

I came across these feelings of doubt time and time again.

One leadership blogger had over 30+ draft blog posts written on his computer (but zero published)

One author had two completed book manuscripts finished but they had been sitting on her hard drive for months

One podcaster had recorded over 15+ podcast episodes months ago, but had not yet launched

If doubt has been holding you back, I want you to know you are not alone. The fear of not being good enough rings in the ears for most of us.

Influence Buster #4: Perspective

Do you value the long-term over the short-term? It’s easy to get swept away by fast success. But nothing of significance is ever done quickly.

Whether it is related to health, finances, relationships, habits, or growing a business, there’s one simple formula that works:

You must learn to value the long-term over the short-term.

Andy Stanley said it best when he said:“Make little deposits of time, over time, in the areas that matter most.”

What stops us from attracting our first 1,000 true fans comes down to four influence busters:

#1: Competition – There’s a lot of noise out there

#2: Overwhelm – Our voices are silenced by the technology back hole

#3: Doubt – The fear of not being good enough

#4: Perspective – We value the short-term over the long-term

How to Become a Full-Time Blogger (Your Blueprint to 1,000 True Fans)

If you want to become a full-time blogger, then you need to follow this four-step blueprint.

The Four Influence Igniters

In order to overcome the “influence busters” we need a solution for each. The faster we can overcome competition, overwhelm, doubt, and the wrong perspective, the sooner we will reach our 1,000 true fans.

Step 1. Launch

Step 2. Grow

Step 3. Profit

Step 4. Scale

Let’s take a closer look at each of these steps.

Influence Igniter #1: Launch

In order to overcome the competition, we need to launch a targeted blog. Most bloggers try to be “all things to all people” and they end up influencing none. Don’t let that be you.

My first blog was called “CPA Career Coach.” I was a career coach for accounting and finance professionals. I think what really contributed to the growth of that blog was the “influence magnet” it created with accounting and finance professionals.

I teach something called the GPS Audience System. GPS stands for “goals, passions, and struggles.” The best way to stand out from the competition is to start addressing the specific goals, passions and struggles of a specific group of people.

Influence Igniter #2: Grow

Once we understand who we are serving and how we will influence them (The GPS system), we need to overcome overwhelm by growing an email list to 1,000 subscribers.

Many aspiring influencers feel overwhelmed simply because there are TOO MANY audience building systems, tools, apps and programs. They mistakenly think that they need to be everywhere and do everything in order to be effective.

That’s the wrong approach.

Instead, you should ask the question: “What’s the fastest, most effective way(s) to grow my influence to my first 1,000 targeted email subscribers?”

When I finally learned this principle about a year into my blogging journey, I remember telling myself: “If it takes five years to build my blog into full-time income so I can enjoy it for the next 10, 20 or 30 years, it will be totally worth the wait.”

This long-term perspective allowed me to fall in love with the work. The reason most of us are impatient is because we have fallen in love with the “idea” of working full-time as an influencer, but not with the “work” it takes to make it happen.

Jonathan has been blogging since 2009 and is still in awe that the Creator of the Universe desires to have a relationship with him. His passions include spending time with his kids, reading, March Madness, surprise get-a-way trips with his wife, and watching funny YouTube videos.

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Awesome post, Jonathan! My biggest influence buster is doubt. I hate that I struggle so much with confidence. I am launching though in spite of. Can’t wait to see how far I can go with this idea!

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